The Hindu : Front Page : Sri Lanka Minister killed in suicide blast

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Monday, Apr 07, 2008
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Sri Lanka Minister killed in suicide blast

Colombo: A powerful Sri Lankan Minister was on Sunday assassinated by suspected LTTE rebels in a suicide attack on a marathon opening that also killed a former Olympian and 12 others while injuring nearly 100, in a bloody start to the strife-torn country's traditional New Year.

Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, 55, chief whip of the ruling United People's Freedom Party and considered by many as potential prime minister-in-waiting, was about to wave a flag to start a marathon when the bomb went off at the western district of Grampaha, about 25 kms from here.

Fernandopulle, who held the Highways portfolio and was a vocal critic of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, died of injuries sustained in the blast at a hospital, officials said.

Blood and mangled body parts were strewn around as people ran screaming and running through the bloodied path after the powerful explosion went off near the minister.

Considered as one of the prime targets of the LTTE, Fernandopulle is the second top minister to be killed by the rebels after D M Dassanayake, Minister for Nation Building, who died in a bomb blast in the same district on January 8, within days of the government scrapping a tattered ceasefire with the Tamil Tigers.

— PHOTO: AFP

INCONSOLABLE: Grieving relatives and friends beside the body of Sri Lankan Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, who was killed in a suicide bomb attack near Colombo on Sunday.

The incident blamed by the government on the Tamil Tigers occurred at the Kanthi playground in Weliveriya town of the district during a marathon organised as part of Sri Lanka's traditional New Year celebrations.-PTI

Officials said 13 others, including former Olympic marathoner K A Karunaratne and national athletic coach Lakshman de Alwis, were also killed in the suicide blast.

Over 100 people, including Grampaha police Senior Superintendent Hector Darmasiri, were seriously injured in the blast and rushed to a local hospital, the Defence Ministry.

Condemning the attack as a "cowardly" act of the LTTE, President Mahinda Rajapaksa appealed for calm.

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